Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-05-28
FROM MAINE TO CUBA.
4 CORRESPONDENT coveTS A SEA
VOYAGE BY SAIL.
And He Secures Passage ON Vessel
Loaded with shocks for CubA-TeIis Hi.
Experiences with the Captain and Nor.
altz<s on Sailors in General.
Special Corre>pcndrnce !

ehxSs ON sailors in General
Special Correspondence
BoSroN. Nav 23-pown in old Port
land town by the docks snd slips: down
there where the tide rises and falls and
the wsters of the sea gurgle and splash
among the rutting piers; down where
It is ever damp and dank with spray and
foam from the fretful movements oT the tugs
aud steamers; down where the splendid air
Of the sea forever battles with the reeking
odoGs Of decaying fish ami TIA, and slime
of . city. lay the Uranus. sun, in mud half
. fsthom, for the tide was OFT, and whatever
Of her bia'k, old hull WIS sboN, the mud was
buried out Of sight, save her jihboonl, spank
sr boom and sparS. by a great load of
'shookS,' dashed and STAYED and bsttened in
place until the little focastle and the a. little
cabin and bulky fife rails were fairly hidden
from sight
The old Uranus WAS u three masted
schooner Of about 50O tons hurthen: was
laden with shocks" consigned 10 Havana and
some miscellaneous goods for Nassau, BAHIA
mas; and when she had cleared" for her
ocean venture her manife.t 4 showed that, for
this voyage, she was entitled Ia carry .one
master, two mates, one cook, five seamen and
one passenger" l. an humble American
journalist, in search Of health and experience,
differing from those Of the aristocratic liter
ators who travel on pass and do Europe in
month, WAS that same ,ne passenger; and
II had any romantic 4 Dtion about desiring
queer company, crampec quarters. tough fare
and . royalty rough voyage, my most eX-
travagant aspirations We're 10 he realized
Our captain WAS what might be concisely
described as an Awful Presence
Born among the rocks of Maine, he had
been reared in infinite penurIousness and
picked IN ssilt water and whisky He was, in
fact, . sort Of tough old "Finnan Haddie,r
dry and thin as a herring. and salter and
dirtier than the worst Old hitter mackerel ever
left over in the rock salt of a cast away fish
tub. H. WAS proud Of filth, gloated in gem
sral meanness, swore awful oaihs simply to
enjoy the horror they caused reyeled in rag
ged clothing because the ship owners objected
10 II, and SEEMED TO perennialy enjoy a sort
Of inner ecstasy in anything on the line of
miscellaneous cusseduess. He was tall gaunt,
skinny. His face was cadaverous red bleary
His little green eyes, no bigger than peas,
were set away back underneath perfect for
ssts OF red eyebrows; and his otherwise
picturesque face WIS given sublime atrocity
of expression by a wide mouth, ever open.
and monstrous teeth, always set as if biting
quick and hard through all opposition, all of
which was half revealed but strongly intensi-
hed by . tremendous mustsche, usually orna-
mented with divers well defined stalactites Of
frozen tobacco juice and drool
/ am safe in the interests of historical
accuracy in saying these things, because /
shsll take good care 70 never meet this par
ticular salt water bell kite again. But can
never forget my negotiations with him for tue
voyage, no more than the voyage itself
A lift at the log meant the keeping Of the
ship'S log during the voyage which | mod
sstly assisted in; and the greasy old record
will bear witness, in my humble chirographv,
10 q real land lubbers earnest efforts TO put
In proper SEA language each days snd nights
events, the queer impressions of the ships
Officers, the countless reckonings, shiftings
changings and occurrences, which maritime
law makes stand As inviolahle evidence of the
doings Of q vessel and those responsible for
her safety.
Soon came bowling January night. and
our captain would wait no longer for fair
weather. So We left the old seaport city Of
which Longfellow wrote:
lremember the black wharves and the siips
And the sea tides tossing free;
And the Spanish sailors with bearded lips
And the beauty and my stery of the ships
And the magic of the sea.
There were no beauty and mystery Of the
ships that evening The magic of the sea had
evidently knocked of. too. True enough as
the sun went down behind the town there was
much 70 see as our snorting tug jerked and
hsulsd our vessel through the choppy waves
Of the bay. But il WIS ghastly, bitter.
dreary, awful seaward in every recognition
aud glimpse. That, perhaps. added real
magic 20 what WAS being left behind In
that sense old Portland town grew little and
snug, nest like and dear "a it receied
But the tug is steaming back To port, the
sun has gone down behind the land the city
lights show family III the far distance, the
great lights from Portland Head and Half
way Rock flash angrily, all sail is set, "ft>ir
bells" clangs and booms from the fife rails
hoarsely: We are alone in the night upon
savage sea, and
Grub"
Our captain stood in the companion wav
and glsred up at NE from the cabin a., half
frozen, l shivered among the shocks" by the
cresking mizzen mast. Grub" he chopped
out Of his fang like teeth. An" he con
tinued in q naughty vein, ''grub's grub on
this vessel. We has no style: n no grub
amt sent to private rooms neither"
paved my way along the ''shooks' tow
ard the cabin. The schooner came up and
struck me . few times squarely, Us if deter
mined on intimacy. got down the narrow
companion way easier-in a heap, as it We're
That cabin was about SIX feet square. sitting.
sinking, startling. Our captain and his two
mates were clinging TO a diminutiye shelf
table with one hand, and with the other
shoveling in great hunks of bread and half
cooked pork, and snortIng and gasping over
black coffee and blacker dried apple sauce
One swinging lamp revealed a sallow eyed
viiiianous cook crouchng in The pantry door
with Q grim smile Oh his buckwbeat cake face
Is he critically saw me plunge TO my stool at
The table.
had been over and over the sea- and i'm
sgined was a sailor. l put my whole hu-
man power into being brave and looking
wise
Our captain laughed outright. So did the
mates. The cook would have done SO, had he
net rammed towel in his mouth and choked
1t Of.
@w'at'll We aver asked the captain, grin
ming.
-Oh, ANYTHING" | airily replied, with
mighty effort.
He put a few pounds Of pork on my plate,
rising and falling from his tiptoes with the
motion of the ship. Still continuing in this
easy and graceful attitude, he waved a tire
raendous fork high III air and thus laid down
the law:
No blankety blanked airs on this vessel,
ye h'yr! Its "A long reach an loud bawl as
glrs grub Fl We git grub We yit grub: and